2nd-SAR, $83,000, Msw, 8-2, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:10.39, ft.
+RACHEL'S VALENTINA, f, 2, by Bernardini
1st Dam: Rachel Alexandra (Horse of the Year, Ch. 3yo Filly & MGISW, $3,506,730), by Medaglia d'Oro
2nd Dam: Lotta Kim, by Roar
3rd Dam: Kim's Blues, by Cure the Blues
Rachel's Valentina, the first foal to race out of 2009 Horse of the Year and multi-millionaire Rachel Alexandra, lived up to her superb bloodlines with an authoritative win on debut at Saratoga Sunday afternoon, earning 'TDN Rising Star' status on the six-year anniversary of her dam's victory in the GI Haskell Invitational. Away from the gate a bit slowly as the even-money favorite, the bay raced in sixth behind a wall of horses as the pacesetters tussled through an opening quarter in :22.25. The filly began to pick up the running on the far turn and circled the field five to six wide turning for home. Rachel's Valentina dueled with a stubborn Awesome Dame (Awesome of Course) into the final furlong and forged clear to post a two-length score over that rival. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $49,800. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O/B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.
In Sharper Focus: Rachel's Valentina
by Alan Carasso
“Breed the best to the best and hope for the best.”
That axiom has been tried over and over, and when you breed the 2009 Horse of the Year to the Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old of 2006, you couldn't fault the connections of said produce for setting the bar high.
“We've had high expectations for her from the get-go,” confirmed John Moynihan, bloodstock advisor to Stonestreet's Barbara Banke. “Ever since she hit the ground, she's been really gorgeous and pretty and one you've always had high expectations for.”
Still, races are not run on paper, and though Rachel's Valentina was the 11-10 favorite to do something not even her much-celebrated dam could accomplish–namely, winning at first asking–Moynihan admitted this one was especially sweet.
“When you throw in who her mother is and what she means to Barbara and her family, it's just a real added pleasure,” he commented. “From the time she was born, she's always been one of the ones we thought the highest of. When Todd got her, he was very impressed. You hope that this kind gets to show everybody how good they are. You hope you don't hit any obstacles getting ready and I think she's a really special one.”
Rachel Alexandra's first foal, Jess's Dream (Curlin), was the product of two Horses of the Year, and that colt, who is under the care of Kiaran McLaughlin, recently worked a smart half-mile in :48.58 (25/109) over the Saratoga main track as he inches towards his first career start. While that mating was an obvious one, Moynihan explained the rationale for going to Bernardini in the mare's second trip to the breeding shed.
“We just thought it would be a very good mating. We love Bernardini as a stallion,” Moynihan stated. “He gets early horses, they run at two, he gets horses that run on the grass, he gets horses that run on the dirt, he gets 2-year-olds, he gets 3-year-olds. He's a great stallion to get a young mare off the ground a to give a mare a good chance to get a good horse and a stakes winner.”
In that vein, could something like the GI Spinaway S. appeal to the Stonestreet braintrust?
“We're just kind of enjoying today and we haven't even talked about the next start,” Moynihan commented. “We'll go over that with Todd and see what he thinks is best. Whatever is the best way to get her to the Breeders' Cup I'm sure is what Todd is thinking.
While that meet-ending championship for the juvenile filly set is contested over seven furlongs, Moynihan reports that Rachel's Valentina will just be warming up over that distance.
“She will run far,” he said unequivocally. “I know Todd was looking for the longest race possible at this time and that's the race that he found. In her works in the morning, she galloped out huge and in the race today, she galloped out huge, and that's always indicative of a horse that's going to want more ground. We're very confident in her ability to run far like her mom.”
Soon after foaling the filly who would become Rachel's Valentina Feb. 12, 2013, and underwent surgery, at which time veterinarians discovered that a section of her colon had lost its blood supply, allowing a bacterial infection to set in. She spent several weeks at the hospital, subsequently undergoing a second procedure. She had also spent some time in the hospital following the birth of Jess's Dream for a less serious condition. Rachel Alexandra has not been bred in either of the last two seasons, but Stonestreet is in no hurry to decide what may happen in the future.
“She's at the farm, she's a healthy horse and she's doing fine at the farm,” Moynihan assured. “She acts like a normal horse. We saw her a few days ago and she looks super.
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